Thursday, 20 March 2014

Haiji Sawada's reign of terror continues in this week's Samurai Flamenco, and having already struck at many of Hazama's allies his next target is an obvious one - the members of Mineral Miracle Muse.

Although Mari escapes unscathed, her two group-mates aren't so fortunate as both are caught up in a coffee poisoning incident. The better news for Hazama is that Kaname has regained consciousness after his "accident" at Sawada's hands, and he has some important advice for Hazama - All you need is love. Then again, maybe he's just been listening to too many Beatles records (if such a thing were possible).

The trouble is, this advice has left Hazama stumped - just what is love exactly. Ishihara tries to explain it to him, but ultimately the only answer is that it's something that one must experience for oneself to understand, while also suggesting that Sawada's behaviour is simply a misunderstood and twisted interpretation of his love of Samurai Flamenco. Either way, Goto is the next target for Haiji's terror campaign, so Hazama is going to need answers fast if he hopes to save his long-standing friend.

This final story arc of Samurai Flamenco still feels like a step down from its previous fare in terms of how ludicrous is attempts to be, but I remain interested in where this particular tale is heading and what it wants to say - I'm beginning to suspect that its true remit is to turn a mirror on a certain obsessive minority of otaku and what their twisted love as part of that fandom can drive them to do, but perhaps I'm reading too much into a show that has largely been more about straight-up parody than moralising. If nothing else, it remains broadly entertaining even when it isn't at its best, which has been a hallmark of the show from the start to keep it ticking along throughout.